Railway car truck



June 19, 195 J. c. SETTLES ET AL RAILWAY CAR TRUCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 9, 1944 June 19, 1951 J. c. SETTLES ET AL 2,557,616

RAILWAY CAR 'IIRUCK Filed Dec. 9, 1944- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 39 58kg i I ILL/ll A mwmmm v .u'IIIII. r1; III

i?. M Wage,

Patented June 19, 1951 RAILWAY CAR. TRUCK James C. Settles and Rolland M. Wege, Columbus, Ohio, assignors to The Buckeye Steel Castings Company, Columbus, Ohio Application December 9, 1944, Serial No. 567,396

an equalizer type of truck, such as used in six.

and eight-wheel truck constructions.

An object of the invention is to apply long travel springs and an associated damping means to a truck of the equalizer type.

Another object is to apply the damping means in such a manner that it will not encroach upon the space normally occupied by the main load. carrying springs.

Another object is to supply damping means for an equalizer type of truck adapted to accommodate the relative angular movement in a vertical plane which occurs between the side frame and bolster due to the action of the equalizer.

A further object is to provide a side frame and bolster connection permitting a pre-determined amount of resilient lateral movement between the side frame and bolster, and a' damping means to control both the lateral and vertical movements of the bolster relative to the side frame.

The foregoing and numerous other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a portion of an equalizer type 6-wheel truck with our improvements incorporated therein.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 1, and partially in transverse horizontal section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation partly in longitudinal vertical section of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a detail to more clearly show an arcuate or convex surface on one of the wedge shoes.

Fig. 6 is a similar view but showing the convex or arcuate surface on an inclined wall of the bolster instead of on the wedge shoe.

Referring to the drawings, each side frame I may be of the usual truss type with a compression member 8 and tension member 9 connected together between the ends of the frame by bolster guide columns I53, arranged at opposite sides of a bolster opening II, provided above a'spring seat [2 forming part of the tension member. One end of the side frame may be provided with an extension or arm |3 suitable for support upon an arm of an equalizer l4, and the other end of the frame may be provided with a pedestal opening l5 for the reception of a journal box, not shown.

The columns ill in accordance with the present invention are formed as inwardly facing or confronting channels each having a web l5 and diverging flanges ll. The bolster i8 is provided at its end with oppositely projecting portions l9 which extend outwardly from the main side wall lines 28 thereof. These outwardly extended portions are provided with downwardly converging surfaces 2| which slidably bear upon correspondingly sloping surfaces 22 of wedge shoes 23. The shoes are supported by auxiliary coil springs 24 and have substantially vertical friction surfaces 25 which engage friction means or wear plates 25 secured to the webs of the columns. The lower ends of the coil springs 2d are supported by the spring seat E2 of the side frame. As shown in Fig. 5, the sloping surface 22 of each wedge is formed with a slightly upwardly convex parti cylindrical contour to accommodate relative angular movement between the side frame and bolster, due to movement of the frame caused by action of the equalizer. If preferred, this arcuate or convex contour may be provided on the sloping Wall 2111 of the bolster instead of on the wedge shoes, as shown in Fig. 6.

As illustrated in the drawings, the application of the above-described damping means has been made entirely outside the main side wall lines 20 of the bolster, leaving the space within these lines available for the main load supporting coil springs 21 which bear directly on the bottom of the bolster and are supported by the spring seat I2.

The flanges ll of the columns are arranged to provide spaces A between the, inner surfaces of the flanges and the projecting portions i9 of the bolster, and said projecting portions act as column guides for the bolster. The provision of spaces A between these portions and the flanges ll permits a predetermined amount of lateral movement between the sideframe and bolster which is clamped by the lateral sliding action between the side frame friction means 26 and the wedge shoes 23. It will be observed that the inboard flanges H are arranged generally in a plane defined by the inboard faces of the equalizer arm l3. The outboard flanges I! are arranged slightly outside a plane defined by the outboard face of the pedestal extension and therefore substantially in the plane of the outer face of the pedestal extension. Spaced flanges 23 are provided on the bolster projections It at opposite sides of each of the inclined surfaces 2! and serve to position the wedge shoes with 3 respect to the bolster in a direction transversely of the track.

A reinforcing bead or rib is arranged along each edge of the two webs l6 and extends upwardly therealong from the spring seat and along the edges of the flanges [1 to a point just above the normal position of the top of the bolster where these reinforcing ribs or beads change from a vertical to a horizontal direction and extend across the flanges to stiffen the upper portions of these elements.

With reference to the term long travel springs used herein, it will be noted that a long travel spring is one designed to permit more deflection, or compression, than can be obtained in a short travel spring, from the free or unloaded condition to the solid condition, where each coil is in contact With adjacent coils. Standard short travel springs for freight car trucks have free to solid travel of 1%" and 14%", while long travel springs for freight cars have about 2" or more travel free to solid.

Although the drawings and description disclose a truck of the equalized type, it is evident that the construction can also be used on trucks of other types, and obviously the invention is not limited to the specific structural features disclosed herein, but contemplates modifications and changes falling within the terms of the appended claim.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a railway car truck having more than four wheels, a side frame including a tension member, a spring seat on the tension member, a compression member, an equalizer arm connected to the tension member and the compression member with its longitudinal center laterally displaced from a longitudinal central plane of the spring seat, a pedestal extension connected to the compression member and the tension member with its longitudinal center laterally displaced to an opposite side of the longitudinal central plane of the spring seat, spaced bolster guide columns connecting the compression member and the ten- 'sion member, each guide column having a transverse substantially vertical web connecting the tension member to the compression member, an inboard flange carried by each of said webs aligned with each other longitudinally of the side frame and lying generally in a plane defined by an inboard face of said equalizer arm, said inboard flanges extending downwardly from the compression member and terminating above the spring seat, outboard flanges connected to each Web aligned with each other longitudinally of .4 the side frame and lying substantially in a plane defined by an outboard face of said pedestal extension, said outboard flanges extending downwardly from the compression member and terminating above the spring seat, said webs and flanges forming confronting channels and portions of the webs below said flanges forming a bolster opening, a bolster including an end portion having a width measured transversely there-- of substantially equal to the space between confronting edges of said inboard and outboard flanges, a projection integral with one side of the bolster end extending into one of said channels, a projection integral with the other side of the bolster end projecting into the other channel, an upwardly and outwardly inclined lower surface on each projection, a friction shoe having surfaces engaging the inclined surface on one bolster projection and the web in the associated channel, a second friction shoe having surfaces engaging the inclined surface on the other bolster projection and the web in the other channel, a group of coil springs engaging the spring seat resiliently supporting the bolster end, helical springs engaging the spring seat at their lower ends and the friction shoes at their upper ends, the centers of said helical springs being arranged in a vertical plane longitudinally of the side frame defined by a center of pressure of said coil springs, and the centers of said helical springs being spaced substantially equi-distant from a vertical plane transversely of the side frame and extending through the center of pressure of the coil springs.

JAMES C. SETTLES. ROLLAND M. WEGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

